Chasing Dreams
by Shade
Summary: A dream. A promise. A choice. Life will never be the same for Ranma Saotome.
1. Chapter 1: Memory

Chasing Dreams  
by Shade  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 & Love Hina are the property of their   
respective creators Rumiko Takahashi and Ken Akamatsu.   
Ken-san Banzai!  
  
Ranma Note: Takes place before Nodoka's introduction,   
but after the Shi Shi Hokodan arc  
  
Love Hina Note: AU, uses mix of anime & manga, spoilers later   
on for those who haven't read through the manga and haven't   
seen the entire tv series, ovas, and specials.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter 1: Memory  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The scene was blurry and faded by the passage of time   
and numerous impacts by blunt objects to the head.  
  
But he could still see the sandbox.   
  
And the plump stuffed beaver animal doll.   
  
He would never ever forget anything looking *that* silly.  
  
"Do you want to know a secret?"  
  
Two kids were playing in the sand, one slightly bigger then other.  
  
He couldn't make out their faces, only vague shadows and impressions.  
  
"If two people go to Todai together, they'll find their happiness there."  
  
He wanted to find happiness too.  
  
He opened his mouth to call out to them, but only silence emerged.  
  
"Let's make a promise to meet in Todai."  
  
He wanted to go too!  
  
He started running toward them as fast as he could, trying to catch up   
to them before they vanished like they always did.   
  
"Wait for me! Wait! Don't leave me behind!"  
  
He didn't want to forget them like he always did when morning came.  
  
If he could only make it before the kiss.  
  
"It's a promise!"  
  
No!  
  
*smooch*  
  
Too late.  
  
Again.  
  
He cried out.  
  
"Todai!"  
  
And with a start, Ranma Saotome woke up.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
"Ugggh, what the hell was I dreaming about this time?"  
  
The last wispy fragments slipped through his mental grasp like quicksilver,   
vanishing along with the last holdouts of the previous night in the blindingly   
bright morning sun. He hated that feeling of not being able to remember anything.  
  
But there was nothing he could actually do about it.  
  
"What time is it anyway?"  
  
It was rare for him to be able to get up like a normal person.  
  
Thanks to the usual suspects mornings usually came too damn early for him.   
But this morning none of them had shown up yet.  
  
Weird.  
  
He wondered how long his luck would last today.  
  
If previous experiences were any indicator, probably not much longer.  
  
With a yawn and a groan, he threw off the warmth of the blanket   
and sat up on the beaten up old futon.  
  
It might beat sleeping on the ground but not by much.  
  
The Tendos didn't have the slightest clue of how good they had it here.  
There had been times on the training trip when Ranma would have happily  
kicked somebody else's ass to be able to sleep on a real mattress.  
  
The brisk morning chill in the air worked better then any cup of coffee   
to shake the last cobwebs of slumber from his body. From his new vantage   
point he was able to see that the angle of the light streaming in from   
the window was relatively low, indicating that he probably hadn't overslept much.  
  
A pity, he could have used the extra rest.  
  
One quick glance across the room was enough to verify that Genma wasn't here.  
  
With a regretful look, he got up and stepped away   
from the tempation of simply going back to sleep.  
  
Which was just as well, because there was a strange   
restlessness in him today, and it bothered him.  
  
He wondered if it had something to do with the dream that he couldn't remember.  
  
Maybe.  
  
It was the most disturbing sensation.  
  
He felt...lonely.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
{What am I missing?}  
  
Ranma had been so preoccupied that he'd hardly tasted breakfast.  
  
It might as well have been mush and gruel,   
he probably wouldn't have noticed any difference.  
  
Even the absence of Soun and Genma barely registered.  
  
{Am I happy?}  
  
He was really starting to dislike this feeling.  
  
{Shouldn't I be?}  
  
This kind of uncertainty had no business in his life.  
  
He was a martial artist.  
  
One of the best.  
  
He had to be, otherwise that would mean the last ten years   
of his life had been wasted for nothing.   
  
Surely that was enough?  
  
But no matter how hard he tried, Ranma could not shake   
the cloud of unease that hung over him.  
  
{What else is there for me?}  
  
Tired of putting up with the strange looks that Akane and Nabiki   
had been giving him all morning he'd decided to go out for a walk.   
  
It had taken him a bit longer to lose them when they'd tried   
to follow him. But the final outcome had never been in doubt.  
  
After all, neither one of them were up to roof hopping.  
  
Now he was just randomly strolling along the streets of Nerima,   
taking care to keep a safe distance from the Nekohanten and   
Ucchan's Okonomiyaki restaurant. The longer he could put off   
running into someone that he knew, the better. He didn't feel  
up to another one of those all out free-for-alls that seemed  
to be breaking out more and more frequently lately.   
  
Damn it, what was wrong with him today?!  
  
"Thank you Gwan-ma!"  
  
He turned to see a cute little tyke who didn't look a day   
over five give a wrinkled old woman a warm hug.   
  
It was nothing. Just a simple family scene.  
  
And yet, something held his attention there.  
  
"You're welcome, dearie."  
  
What was this tight burning feeling in his chest?  
  
Jealousy?!   
  
But why?  
  
What was he getting so upset about? Just because he  
didn't have any memories of *his* family like that....  
  
He didn't...did he?  
  
He could remember training, cold nights with not enough   
to eat, and his father always fighting with him for food.   
  
But for the life of him, Ranma could not remember a genuinely  
happy moment spent with his parent. Did he even have a mother?   
Or grandparents? Was the old man all the family he really had?  
  
"...."  
  
Suddenly he didn't feel like walking anymore.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
The tense feeling that had been hanging in the empty  
cavern of his stomach turned cold and queasy as   
he returned to the Tendo home.  
  
Something was up.  
  
The excited voices coming from the   
living room could only mean one thing.  
  
Trouble.  
  
He entered to find the household in an uproar.  
  
Soun was weeping, whether in happiness or sorrow   
he didn't know. Not that it made much of a difference  
to him either way.  
  
Nabiki was eyeing him like a piece of expensive meat   
or a large denomination yen note. It was hard to tell  
the difference sometimes with her.  
  
Not a good sign.   
  
Looking at Kasumi didn't help. She would probably  
still have that same happy little expression even  
if Martians were to suddenly invade the neighborhood   
with handheld Deathrays while screaming about   
"Love and Peace!"  
  
"-Rich!!"  
  
Hmm?  
  
What was going on?  
  
were those yen notes his old man was holding?   
  
Where the heck did he get so many of them?  
  
And why was Akane giving him such a dirty look?   
  
What was he being blamed for *this* time?  
  
Then he spotted the envelope addressed to him,   
or rather what was left of it.  
  
Torn and smudged, it bore all the signs of having  
been in several hands so far.   
  
At first glance it looked empty, but then he noticed  
a small letter that had somehow been overlooked by  
the others and was still lying hidden inside.   
  
He pulled it out slowly, it seemed to have escaped the  
notice of everyone else who had gone through his mail  
and he was determined to protect this small remmant of  
his personal privacy.   
  
Ranma looked down and started to read.  
  
'Dear Mr. Ranma Saotome,  
  
We regret to inform you that your grandmother, Mrs. Keiko Hina,  
recently passed away. As per the instructions in her will, you have   
been designated as her primary heir. This includes controlling interest   
in the property known as the Hinata Sou as well as the surrounding lands   
within the Hinata district. Her bank accounts will be held in trust for you   
by Ms. Haruka Urashima until you reach 20 years of age or marry, whichever   
comes first. A portion of those funds have been released and enclosed with   
this letter in order to pay for your traveling expenses....'  
  
His heart froze.  
  
The words kept echoing in his brain over and over.   
  
'Your grandmother...passed away.'  
  
'Passed away.'  
  
Genma had never told him.  
  
He didn't know how long he kept staring at the paper   
clutched in his hands, his eyes blurring from the pain   
in his heart that he could not, dared not acknowledge.  
  
He was a man. And men did not cry.  
  
"Don't worry boy! Your father will take care of all this money.   
I only want what's best for you. Ah, the priest is finally here!"  
  
A peculiar pressure began building up inside Ranma's head   
as soon as he heard that gloating tone. A dreadful premonition   
of something so unspeakable that for one of the few times in his life,   
the young man silently prayed that his intuition was wrong.  
  
{Please. Just this once, don't do this to me.}  
  
"Perfect! We can hold the wedding ceremony immediately, Saotome!  
After all these years, our retirement of beer and shogi has come!"  
  
Bile clawed at Ranma's tightening throat while his shaken  
mind tried to cope with this unbelievable turn of events.  
  
"I won't marry him!"  
  
He heard Akane's words as if from a great distance, for there   
was a dull roar filling his ears now. As if the ocean itself   
had been summoned into his skull, knocking aside the very pillars  
of his existance as if they were mere castles in the sand.  
  
"If you don't want Ranma, I'll be more then happy to take him   
now that he's got some actual money."  
  
"Nabiki!"  
  
"That's the Tendo spirit, girls!"  
  
"Dad! How can you say that?!   
  
Ten years.  
  
The training, his sacrifices, the loneliness.  
  
All of it for nothing.  
  
No home. No real friends. Not even a bed to call his own.  
  
And now this.  
  
"Feeling jealous?"  
  
"Jealous? Of that idiot? Never!""  
  
"I'm sure Shampoo and Ukyo will be happy to hear that."  
  
"They can have him for all I care!"  
  
A cold black void started seeping into Ranma's very being.   
He felt empty. Completely drained of all hope, all joy.  
Even Cologne's Soul of Ice training had never pierced this   
deeply through him.   
  
"Stop staring and say something, Ranma! Try to think about   
how I feel for once instead only thinking about yourself!"  
  
"Boy! You *WILL* marry Akane and that's that!"  
  
"Don't you dare try to leave my daughter at the altar!"  
  
"I've got the tuxedo ready over here, Father."  
  
"I won't marry him!"  
  
"Time to start paying off your tab, Ranma."  
  
"Ranma!"  
  
It was simply too much.  
  
The letter crumpled as he balled both hands into a shaking fists.  
  
"Ranma!!"  
  
Something shattered deep inside of him.  
  
"RANMA!!!"  
  
And he ran.  
  
(To be continued) 


	2. Chapter 2: Promise

Chasing Dreams  
  
by Shade  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 & Love Hina are the property of their   
  
respective creators Rumiko Takahashi and Ken Akamatsu.   
  
Ranma Note: Takes place before Nodoka's introduction,   
  
but after the Shi Shi Hokodan arc.  
  
Love Hina Note: AU, uses mix of anime & manga, spoilers later   
  
on for those who haven't read through the manga and haven't   
  
seen the entire tv series, ovas, and specials.   
  
Many belated thanks to the Pre-readers who helped me through this,  
  
Especially Brian, Ginrai and Corwin who kept bugging me till I finally finished it. ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2: Promise  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It took him three days to find the Hinata district.  
  
Three days of hitching rides on the rumbling roofs   
  
of the always on time Japanese trains.  
  
Three long days without a bite to eat, barely any sleep,   
  
and only water from public fountains to drink.  
  
But at last he had reached his destination.  
  
His only possessions were the clothes on   
  
his back and his life savings; a 1000 yen bill.  
  
His eyes were bloodshot, his body cried out for rest,   
  
and he was starting to smell none too fresh.  
  
But Ranma didn't care. He had something more important on his mind.  
  
He had to say goodbye.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The shopkeeper had been a resident of the Hinata district   
  
for some time. His own children had all long since grown up   
  
and left the nest to make their own way in the world.   
  
He'd seen times of relative quiet and times when the local   
  
weirdness managed to raise even his jaded eyebrows. But today   
  
the quiet grief hanging in the air in recent days seemed to   
  
have afflicted everyone in the district.  
  
The old lady had been one of the pillars of the community   
  
ever since he himself could remember.  
  
And she would be missed deeply by them all.  
  
When the disheveled young man entered his shop, the shopkeeper   
  
barely noticed him at first.  
  
At least not until the young man came up to his counter and   
  
plopped down a crumpled 1000 yen bill on it.  
  
"I need some flowers."  
  
That got his attention.  
  
Was this kid serious? What did he expect to get for only a 1000 yen?  
  
And then he saw the naked grief in the boy's eyes.  
  
"Please."  
  
He could see just how much that single word cost the youth's pride.  
  
And without even asking he was able to guess why the teenager needed   
  
them so badly. The pain he saw there was like a reflection of his own loss.   
  
"Alright."  
  
The old man bent down behind the counter and pulled up a slightly wilted,  
  
but still pretty arrangement of white and yellow flowers.  
  
"Will this be okay?"  
  
The shopkeeper knew he'd done the right thing when he saw the gratitude  
  
and relief ease some of the burden on the young man's trembling shoulders.   
  
"Yes! Thank you."  
  
"You better hurry if you want to make it to the graveyard before that storm hits."  
  
He pointed outside to the grumbling dark clouds slowly moving toward the district.  
  
But when he turned back, the boy was already gone.  
  
He shook his head and sighed.  
  
"A dream? Or will we wait to see?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ranma had never felt so alone.  
  
He stood there shivering in the quiet foggy graveyard.   
  
The flowers he held seemed like the only real colors there.  
  
Everything else, even the marble headstone in front of him,  
  
were all enshrouded by that same dismal shade of gray.  
  
Slowly, hesitantly he knelt and placed the crumpled bouquet   
  
by the cold stone.  
  
"I...."  
  
Ranma stopped. He didn't know what to say. How did you speak to the dead?  
  
"I-I wish...I wish that, that, I mean...I...."  
  
Why was he trembling so much? Why was this so hard to say?  
  
"I...."  
  
Something wet hit the back of his clenched hands.  
  
Again. And then again.  
  
It was starting to rain.  
  
For once, Ranma welcomed the change brought on by his curse.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
He knelt there, pelted by the stinging rain, letting it wash away   
  
any trace of her tears. The howl of the wind and the rumble of   
  
distant thunder hid the sound of her sobs.  
  
Men did not cry. But a woman could.  
  
Her mind was lost in a thousand flashes of memory.  
  
Traveling. Training. Hunger. And above all the constant loneliness.  
  
Always watching other kids from the outside.  
  
Never fitting in. Never a place where she belonged.  
  
Take away the Art and what was she left with?  
  
"Never again!"  
  
It was as much a cry of pain as it was a promise.  
  
And when the anger had spent itself, all that was left was her grief.  
  
Ranma cried for her grandmother.   
  
She wept for herself.   
  
And she mourned for lost chances that would never be.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
How long she just knelt there staring blankly at the grave, she did not know.  
  
But when her awareness returned, the storm had finally passed   
  
and the day was on the wane.   
  
Pushing a soggy strand of hair away from her face, Ranma wondered what she would do now.  
  
Her father had always taught her to live in the moment. Even her journey here   
  
had been an act born of emotion rather then forethought.  
  
She couldn't go back to the Tendos. At least, not yet. She didn't want   
  
to confront anyone she knew in Nerima yet either. Not with her feelings   
  
still so raw and bleeding.  
  
She needed a place to stay. At least, for a little while.  
  
Reaching into a soggy pants pocket produced the runny remains of the letter   
  
that had brought her here.  
  
She remembered it had mentioned something about a place called the "Hinata Sou"  
  
and something about a "Haruka Urashima". Another relative that Genma had never  
  
mentioned?   
  
The last thing Ranma wanted to do right now was rely on   
  
the whims of someone that she had never met before to   
  
take her in.  
  
"*Ke*-choo!"  
  
But it seemed to be her only viable option at the moment.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The place was a dump.  
  
Big, but a dump.  
  
At least, that was Ranma's first impression of it.  
  
He was no architect, but even he could see that the exterior  
  
had seen better days. The paint on the sides was worn, faded,  
  
and peeling everywhere he could see. In many places the bare   
  
wood was exposed to the elements. Even the stone pavement   
  
leading to the building was pitted and cracked, the scars  
  
of a losing war with Mother Nature. Several of the roof tiles  
  
appeared loose as well, their sad neglected state reminding him   
  
far too much of the Tendo Dojo.  
  
He wondered if this was such a good idea.  
  
But his body was too weary to go someplace else now.  
  
Only one night here couldn't hurt, right?  
  
"Hello? Anyone here?"  
  
Too impatient to wait outside, Ranma walked in without  
  
waiting for a response. He was greeted by an empty interior  
  
that was surprisingly in better shape then the outside  
  
would have led one to believe.  
  
A bowl of rice cracker snacks on a small beaten up coffee table  
  
tempted him for a moment. He was extremely hungry, having dined  
  
on nothing but cold water and some complimentry samples snatched   
  
from various foodstands on his way here. But at the same time   
  
there was a cold lump in his stomach that made the very thought   
  
of eating repugnant to him at the moment.  
  
Right now, all he wanted was to rest.  
  
As he made his way through the first floor searching for a quiet   
  
place to collapse in, a familar scent reached his reddened nose.  
  
Steam. And not just any steam. One containing the unique mingled   
  
fragrance that heralded only one thing.  
  
A hot spring.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ahhhhhh...."  
  
Ranma closed his eyes and sighed in pleasure as he slid into   
  
the soothing heat of the steaming water. For the first time  
  
since receiving that letter of ill-tidings his shoulders   
  
slumped limply in relaxation.  
  
It was oh so tempting to fall asleep there in the water.  
  
He simply didn't want to move as the heat worked its way  
  
into his muscles, bringing blessed relief to his cramped  
  
legs and arms.  
  
"So good."  
  
One hand slowly reached back behind his head   
  
to release the hair tying his pigtail together.   
  
"Ooooo..."  
  
As his long hair swung free Ranma was rewarded with an   
  
accompanying release of tension from the back of his head   
  
and neck. The long dark strands fanned out behind him as   
  
he sank deeper into the stone covered pool.  
  
So engrossed was the young man in his blessed little island   
  
of contentment that he never heard the sound of footsteps   
  
approaching the bath.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Naru Narusegawa was looking forward to a long soak in the hot springs  
  
to ease the weariness of another tiring session at cram school.  
  
But at least focusing on her studies helped to distract   
  
her from...other matters.  
  
"Oie! Naru!"  
  
"Mitsune, you're planning on going in too?"  
  
"Mmmm, now seemed as good a time as any for a bath."  
  
Naru noticed that there seemed to be an uncharacteristic somberness  
  
in her short haired shifty eyed friend's normal easygoing Kansai accent.  
  
She also knew why. It was the same reason the long haired cram student   
  
had buried herself so completely in her studies recently.  
  
What were they going to do now that Grandma Hina was gone?  
  
Not only had the loss hit all of them personally, but the future   
  
of their girl's dorm now also looked bleak. Naru didn't want to  
  
go back home and live with her father's new family.  
  
She had a promise to keep, after all.  
  
The two young women tucked their towels around themselves   
  
and proceeded to enter the bath area. To their surprise  
  
they saw that somebody else was already in the water.  
  
Upon spotting the long dark hair trailing behind the  
  
submerged figure the two of them naturally came to the   
  
conclusion that one of the other residents had gotten  
  
in ahead of them.  
  
{But I thought Motoko was out training today? Oh well.}  
  
Mitsune shrugged. Who was she to question such   
  
a perfectly good opportunity for mischief when it   
  
was handed to her on a silver platter like this?  
  
Sneaking up behind her unsuspecting victim,   
  
the foxy girl gestured quietly to the puzzled Naru.  
  
Surprise, disapproval and then finally a semi-reluctant  
  
look of agreement showed on her friend's pretty face.  
  
Mitsune gave Narusegawa a saucy wink in reply.  
  
Abandoning the towel wrapped around her ample assets,  
  
the 'Kitsune' of the Hinata Dorms plunged down into the   
  
steaming water to seize the person in there from behind.   
  
Naru clasped her hands together in a quick prayer.  
  
{Forgive me, Motoko.}  
  
Then she dived in after her friend.  
  
The swirling water was slightly cloudy from the natural   
  
minerals of the hot spring, compounding Naru's own problem   
  
of nearsightedness as she tried to make out Motoko's form.  
  
But she could see well enough that the kendo girl had brought   
  
her sword with her into the bath again. Granted it looked a bit  
  
smaller underwater, but what else could that thing sticking  
  
out of her lap be?  
  
Both her hands reached out to seize it.  
  
The results were...unexpected.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The first sign for Ranma that something was seriously wrong   
  
was when a pair of semi-hard points impacted against his back.  
  
The soft pillowy cushions that followed immediately afterwards  
  
reduced the number of possibilities that those nubs could be.  
  
Even a Saotome was able to put two and two together and get four.  
  
But when somebody else grabbed him from the front, he stiffened in shock.  
  
Literally.  
  
And then he made the mistake of opening his mouth to scream....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mitsune Konno prided herself on certain things.  
  
Her drinking. Her gambling. Her devious scheming. And the most important   
  
of them all, her natural "talents".  
  
Motoko was long overdue an attack from the 'Big Sister Bust Size Checker'.  
  
And she did so love seeing that prudish warrior blush. Although as she rubbed   
  
herself up against Motoko's back, Mitsune was amazed at how hard the corded   
  
muscles there felt. It was a little embarrassing to admit, but it was starting   
  
to turn her on. She'd always had a weak spot for a nice solid back, and from this   
  
angle it was easy to forget her target's true gender and imagine she was embracing   
  
a long haired guy instead.  
  
{Damn, maybe I shouldn't have had all that booze this morning.   
  
The hallucinations are kicking in earlier then usual today.)  
  
The mischievous girl was pleased to note how Motoko stiffened up  
  
as she pressed herself more firmly against the other girl's back.  
  
Her arms reached around, hands outstretched to grope....  
  
To grope....  
  
Say, where the heck did Motoko's breasts go?   
  
Was the younger girl starting to bind them up in the bath now?  
  
A sudden sinking feeling started to form in the pit of her stomach  
  
as Konno's hands started moving back and forth in an attempt to solve   
  
this little mystery.  
  
But when they finally encountered a chest, it most definitely   
  
did not belong to a girl.  
  
But even as she was coming to grips with this realization,   
  
all hell started to break loose in the bath.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
For a moment, all was quiet in the hot spring.  
  
Then Ranma's head erupted from the water, gasping and choking from his   
  
belated attempt to scream underwater. Next to surface was a naked   
  
wide-eyed short-haired silver-blonde woman clinging to his back.   
  
And finally to cap off the madness, another naked girl emerged between   
  
his legs holding onto him with both hands like a crazed video game   
  
addict grasping a joystick.  
  
"EEEEEKKKK!! Pervert! Rapist! Molester! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"  
  
Narusegawa screamed in horror as she finally comprehended her situation   
  
and started to flee. But in her panic, she forgot all about her firm grip   
  
on the young man.  
  
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! LET GO!! LET GO!! LET GO!!!"  
  
Ranma started yelling in pain as he was dragged along behind the screaming girl   
  
by an appendage not designed to tow the weight of two people all by itself.   
  
Back and forth the trio went, as Naru kept going around in circles in a futile   
  
attempt to shake off the pursuit that she was pulling along after her.  
  
Finally Naru simply couldn't take anymore, her hands letting go at last  
  
as she spun around in order to deliver one of her devastating anti-pervert   
  
haymakers.  
  
Mitsune saw what was coming and shoved off of the martial artist's back   
  
in order to get out of the way.  
  
Ranma stumbled and tried to recover his balance. But a sudden spasm  
  
of dizziness struck. He felt so lightheaded that it was difficult   
  
to think coherently.  
  
{So hot. Stayed in too long. Don't feel good.}  
  
One foot slipped on the wet rock floor and he started to fall.   
  
His hands reached out in a futile attempt to grab something in order   
  
to stop the inevitable.  
  
*GLOMP**GLOMP*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Aah!"  
  
The sudden sensation of being grabbed threw Naru's aim off.  
  
Instead of clobbering the pervert in the head, her fist went wide and   
  
skidded past his ear. Unable to recover her balance, she found herself  
  
being pushed down by her target. Naturally, she assumed the worse.  
  
{Noooo! He's going to have his wicked way with me! And the worst part is   
  
that it actually feels pretty good! Oh why do I have to be such a sucker  
  
for this kind of forceful seduction right out of a trashy romance novel?}  
  
She moaned softly as the young man's grip on her breasts slid along their   
  
wet surface. They seemed to be everywhere at once as the lower half of   
  
his lean form came down on her body. She could feel his hardened heat   
  
pressing against her thigh like an iron brand, and its touch seemed to   
  
drain the strength out of her feeble struggles.  
  
"No, not like this.... Oh...ah!"  
  
Naru started to close her eyes, believing that the vile rake would   
  
no doubt take this opportunity to steal her first kiss from her pink   
  
vigin lips.  
  
But then she finally noticed the look on the young man's face.  
  
There weren't any signs of lust or victory showing, only sheer panic.  
  
{Huh?!}  
  
For some reason Narusegawa felt vaguely insulted instead of relieved.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ranma's nervousness kept increasing as he struggled to keep his head  
  
from planting itself face first in this strange girl's cleavage.   
  
He was already aware of where his hands were, but they were also the   
  
only things keeping him from falling all the way down. Had he been able  
  
to think more clearly Ranma would have seen that he could have braced   
  
his hands on either side of her, but right now the only thing he could  
  
comprehend was that he could not fall on her at any cost.  
  
And so his hands continued their futile struggle to get a firm hold the   
  
slippery twin peaks.  
  
"Miss Naru, is something wrong? I heard you cry out from my room   
  
and...WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"  
  
Then it really hit the fan as a tall girl in an old-style kendo gi   
  
appeared on the scene.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Atcha."  
  
Mitsune could only watch the comedy of errors play out in front of her.  
  
First came Naru's blush of embarassment as she realized her compromising   
  
position had an audience.  
  
"KYAAAAA!!!"  
  
Followed by a quick shove to the chest that pitched the strange young man   
  
backwards and away from her....  
  
"ZAN TETSU SEN!"  
  
...Straight into Motoko's attack.  
  
"I can't bear to watch!"  
  
But Mitsune peeked through her fingers anyway.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ranma identified the technique as a high pressure air wave launched by the slashing  
  
movement of the girl's wooden blade. Tatewaki Kuno had often used a similar move against   
  
him before.  
  
However, he reflected ruefully, Kuno had never been quite this good at it.  
  
With Kuno the air pressure was strong but lost power fairly quickly,   
  
making it a relatively short-ranged attack. The stubborn kendoist could   
  
fire them off pretty fast, but it depended on repeated strikes hitting   
  
the target in order to do any real damage.  
  
But this girl had just fired off her attack from a good thirty feet away and her attack   
  
didn't look weakened in the least. If anything, it seemed to be *gaining* strength as   
  
it crested over the water towards him!  
  
He managed to jump out of the way barely in the nick of time. The bottoms of his feet   
  
tingled from the near-miss, and he recognized this sensation with a sinking feeling   
  
in the pit of his already queasy stomach. It was just like when he'd gotten pounded   
  
on by Ryoga's Shi Shi Hokodan. Only this time without the dark taste of depression   
  
and anger fueling the Ki.  
  
{Don't need this right now!}  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A loud explosion announced the demise of the tall bamboo fence at the back of the baths  
  
as it was hit by her 'Shining Steel Cutting Beam' strike.  
  
Motoko's initial assessment of this pervert went up a notch as she chased after him.   
  
He was obviously not an ordinary weakling molester.  
  
Stronger measures were needed to deal with this menace to maidenly chasity!  
  
"ZAN KU SEN!"  
  
This time her efforts were rewarded by the sight of her target being hurled  
  
ass over teakettle through the dorm building wall.   
  
"KYAAAAA!!"  
  
"Oh no! Shinobu!"  
  
And the chase was on!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shinobu had been in the kitchen washing the dishes when she'd heard the first   
  
violent outbursts coming from the baths. At first she had dismissed it as  
  
another one of Kaolla's experiments going berserk and causing havoc again.  
  
But then Suu had entered the kitchen while snacking on some bananas.   
  
The tanned mad hacker/inventor had denied any involvement in the ruckus   
  
outside and was actually rather peeved that she hadn't been invited to  
  
the mayhem. Which was of course the exact same moment that the kitchen   
  
wall next to them decided to explode.  
  
*BOOM*  
  
"Kaolla! Kaolla!! Are you okay?! Where are you?!"  
  
Coughing from all the dust that had been kicked up, the teary eyed girl   
  
tried to see through the brown haze.  
  
The sound of someone violently coughing nearby caught her attention.  
  
"Oh, there you are!"  
  
Shinobu blindly reached out to help her friend up while rubbing at her  
  
her reddened eyes with the back of one arm. She grasped a wrist   
  
and tried to haul Suu up, but her strength proved unequal to the task.  
  
"Oof! Kaolla, you really need to start cutting back on the bananas!"  
  
Even her wrist seemed to have gotten a bit chubbier.  
  
"Ooo...look at all the floating bananas...."  
  
Wait a second. Kaolla's voice was coming from the other side of the kitchen?!  
  
Shinobu blinked several times as this fact slowly penetrated.  
  
Then she squinted for a closer look.  
  
"...."  
  
This wasn't Kaolla.  
  
"!"  
  
And that wasn't an arm she was holding.  
  
"KYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
{Ow.}  
  
He'd forgotten how much Ki attacks hurt. They did less physical damage then  
  
regular attacks, but since they attacked the spirit directly he actually   
  
felt them a lot more.   
  
It hurt to even breathe now. Taking quick shallow breaths helped a little,   
  
but then the fire in his sinuses and lungs erupted into a violent spasm  
  
of coughing and hacking.   
  
Darkness beckoned at the edge of his vision.   
  
It would be so easy to just let it all go and collapse.  
  
Well, except for one little detail.  
  
{Eeyoww! That's NOT a lever, you know!}  
  
Ranma was starting to get sick and tired of people pulling on his crotch.  
  
Not only was it making itself a bigger target, but he was also starting   
  
to feel rather sore and a bit raw from all the clumsy handling.   
  
And it was that focused irritant that kept him painfully awake and aware.  
  
With a irritated grunt the naked young man sat up, blinking the dust out of his eyes.  
  
He payed no attention to the hysterical girl who had backed away from him   
  
and was curled up into a fetal position in the far corner of the room.  
  
Ranma figured he had ten, maybe even fifteen seconds before that female kendoist  
  
would show up in here.  
  
And it would be much better for his health if he was not here when she arrived.  
  
Forget this madhouse, he'd be safer camping out in the woods.  
  
{Just wait for night, come back and grab my clothes and then I'm gone.}  
  
But when he stood up, the blood rushing to his head sent him reeling from side to side.  
  
{I don't feel so good.}  
  
Ranma stumbled out of the kitchen, weaving like a drunkard through the hallway toward the  
  
front of the house.  
  
His head was pounding, his nose was runny, and despite his lack of clothing he felt   
  
like one of Akane's art projects being roasted at maximum power in a kiln.  
  
Behind him, the growing sounds of angry pursuit told the martial artist that  
  
he was running out of time.  
  
Ranma made a desperate final dash for the steps leading down from the front courtyard.   
  
If he could just get away....  
  
"THERE HE IS!!"  
  
Distracted by the need to watch behind him for incoming projectiles he registered   
  
the presence of another person coming up those same steps just a little too late.  
  
Warm.  
  
Soft.  
  
Fluffy sweet smelling mounds.   
  
Then the sudden ringing pain of an iron hard fist crashing down on his head.   
  
"Hmmm, Ranma? Is that you?"  
  
And then comforting darkness reached out to embrace him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Haruka Urashima sighed.  
  
The fresh loaves of bread she'd been bringing over to the girls   
  
had been squished into funny looking lumps.  
  
And now her unconcious nephew was lying buck naked on the   
  
stone tiles, victim of her "Anti-Seta" reflexes.  
  
"Miss Haruka! You caught the pervert!!"  
  
This was going to be one of *those* days again.  
  
She really needed a cigarette right now.  
  
-To be continued 


End file.
